TEL AVIV, August 29. /TASS/. The majority of Hamas battalions and brigades have been defeated in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

"The majority of Hamas brigades and battalions were defeated in Gaza <...> in the past 11 months. Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif was killed, along with others on a long list of high-ranking terrorists," he noted, as cited by the Israeli Defense Ministry.

According to Gallant, "the military achievements" of the Israeli army in Gaza have allowed the residents of most of the previously evacuated areas in southern Israel to return home. The military achievements also made it possible to bring a large number of hostages back from Gaza, he added.

As for the northern front, where confrontation continues with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement, the army’s mission is "to make sure that residents of the northern areas can safely return home," Gallant went on to say. "In order to achieve this goal, we must expand the goals of the war to include the safe return of Israel’s northern residents to their homes," the defense chief stressed. He pointed out, however, that it would not reduce the Israeli military’s commitment to "eliminating Hamas and returning the hostages."

On August 28, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described ensuring the safe return of local residents to Israel’s north as a priority goal.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. In response, Israel launched a military operation in the Palestinian enclave to destroy Hamas military and political wings and free all hostages. According to the latest data from Israel, Hamas still holds over 100 hostages in Gaza.

Tensions persist on Israel’s northern border, with regular shelling attacks coming from Lebanon and Israel striking back. More than 80,000 Israelis have been evacuated from border areas in the country’s north.